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There Is Some Good News Too

Posted on Jun 21, 2011 8:40pm PDT

Just last week, someone was telling me they thought it was a shame that
the positive provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (healthcare reform) kept getting overshadowed by the negative headlines.
Then, just a few days after that conversation, I saw this article from
The Los Angeles Times pointing out some of the positive aspects of that Act. The article is
Helping Seniors Live At Home Longer.

As explained in the article, the Act contains many provisions that encourage
and support seniors staying in their homes as they age. Some of assistance
is provided through an increased contribution of federal dollars to state
Medicaid home and community based care service programs. However, as we
have all been hearing, both the federal and state governments are wrestling
with budget shortages. So, some of the assistance provided through the
Act is in the form of a new program called the CLASS Act that will make
it easier for individuals to save for their own long term care needs.

The CLASS Act is a long term care insurance program through the federal
government that individuals will be able to sign up for and pay for through
their employers. The hope is that the premiums will be affordable and
that people can sign up to participate without worrying about whether
they have a preexisting medical condition that would make them ineligible
for long term care insurance with the private insurance companies. The
challenge to its success is going to be getting enough people to recognize
the need to participate in the program so that it will be financially
sound enough to last.

So, there is some good news associated with the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act. However, just how good the news is may be up to us.

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